Nintendo’s new translation tune? What a Fire Emblem re-release means in 2020

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  The special edition comes with everything seen here, on sale in December. Prices not yet announced.

Nintendo's latest surprise announcement hinges on a different anniversary than the usual mascots like Mario, Link, and Pikachu: it's for Fire Emblem, the turn-based strategy series that launched exclusively in Japan in 1990. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the game's first 8-bit adventure is getting the re-release treatment, either as a basic digital version or with a deluxe, physical collection of booklets, maps, and more.

But there's a funny thing about Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light. This 8-bit re-release has some emulation-like tweaks and perks, but this is otherwise not a remake. Up until now, its text-filled Famicom version never got an official translation and release for Western audiences. And unlike the rare cases where Nintendo produced, then shelved, a translated version of a Japanese game, this first Fire Emblem game was never advertised or teased to Western fans.

In any other year, we might look at this delightful throwback to a classic, Japan-only Nintendo game and briefly give the whole thing a thumbs up. But 2020 has been a weird one for Nintendo, so I'm tempted to take a closer look and ask: is this a sign of more unearthed translations to come?

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